BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sound Transit's light rail extension project connecting Seattle to the Eastside is experiencing more delays.
The 14-mile-long, $3.6 billion East Link project is planned to have 10 stations from Seattle’s Chinatown-International District to Redmond. The extension was scheduled to open in the summer of 2023, but Sound Transit officials said a number of factors could push the date back.
Officials said the main factors causing the project to run behind schedule include COVID-19 delays, the four-month concrete workers strike, and quality issues on the I-90 segment of the alignment between the Chinatown-International District and South Bellevue stations.
Sound Transit said crews identified defects in some of the concrete blocks attaching the rail to the concrete guideway structure, known as plinths. Officials said some of the plinths could be repaired, but in other locations,, a portion of the entire concrete plinth needs to be demolished and replaced.
In addition, officials said Sound Transit will most likely extend the training period for their light rail operators, which could also delay the opening of the Eastside light rail stations.
Sound Transit officials said they're preparing for a quantitative risk assessment this spring to look at all the outstanding risk factors and various possible outcomes to assess and develop a revised timeline. Officials said they are still optimistic the project be within budget and want to reassure future riders the light rail project will be safe.
When completed, Sound Transit said passengers would be able to “almost 40 miles of fast, reliable light rail, from the Eastside to downtown Seattle and Northgate and to Sea-Tac Airport and Angle Lake.” Sound Transit said the travel time from Mercer Island to the University of Washington is projected to be 20 minutes, South Bellevue to Sea-Tac Airport to be 50 minutes, and the Redmond Technology Station to downtown Bellevue is 10 minutes.
Sound Transit said daily ridership, including the downtown Redmond extension, is projected between 43,000 and 52,000 passengers by 2026.
Three new Link light rail stations in Seattle’s University District, Roosevelt, and the Northgate neighborhoods opened in October. Trains run every eight minutes at peak hours, and passengers can expect to get from Northgate to Sea-Tac Airport in about 45 minutes.